Kingswood, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Kingswood, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands 1 mile NE of Charfield station on the M.R., and 1 SW of Wootton-under-Edge, carries on manufactures in woollen cloth, and has a post and money order office under Wootton-under-Edge; telegraph office, Wootton-under-Edge. Acreage of parish, 2365; population, 938. The land anciently formed part of an extensive forest, superintended by the constable of Bristol Castle. A Cistercian priory, a cell to Tintern Abbey, was founded here in 1139 by William de Berkeley, was removed for a time to Rodmarton and Tetbury, was refounded here in 1170, was given by Queen Elizabeth to the Thynnes, and remains of it still exist near the parish church. Woollen cloth, silk, elastic, and pins are manufactured. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £180 with residence. The church of the Holy Trinity, built and consecrated in 1723, renovated and restored in 1872, comprises porch, nave, N aisle, chancel, organ chamber, vestry, and tower, with clock and peal of eight bells, and contains monuments of the Berkeleys and others. There is a Congregational chapel.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1598.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin, erected in 1723, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of nave, north transept, organ chamber and vestry, west porch and a western turret containing a clock and 8 bells: there are sittings for 300 persons: the church was restored in 1906 at a cost of £1,200: the curfew is regularly rung every night at 8 o'clock.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Kingswood are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:
- Gloucester Citizen
- Gloucester Journal
- Gloucestershire Chronicle
- Gloucestershire Echo
- Cheltenham Chronicle
- Cheltenham Looker-On
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.